Officer Jeremiah Leland did a great job stopping this deranged man who had already been involved in an earlier stabbing!

If you value what we do at ASP, would you consider becoming an ASP Patron Member to support the work it takes to make the narrated videos like this stabbing and officer involved shooting? https://get-asp.com/patron gives the details and benefits.

Citizen cell-phone recording of the suspect’s confrontation with another group just as the officer pulled up: https://get-asp.com/dnc5 (NSFW language)

What does this video teach us about defending ourselves against an attacker armed with a knife?

Sometimes the danger that you must protect yourself and your family from isn’t evil, but is rather deranged. People who aren’t in their right faculties can be a real danger to your family, even if they are not inherently evil. You need the attitude, skills, and plan to protect yourself from evil AND from non-evil threats that pop up! I am not sure if this attacker was deranged or simply evil, but the results aren’t really much different from the defenders’ perspective.

The eyes may be the windows to the soul, but the hands are the windows to the intent of a person. If you’re in a potential conflict, ALWAYS pay attention to what the aggressor is doing with their hands. They might have a force multiplier in their hand, or they might be hiding their hand so that you can’t see what is in it or using their hand to conceal something. If their hands are empty, there is a difference between someone with fists and someone whose hands are open and relaxed. As a self-defender your situational awareness must include seeing the hands of any potential threat in your vicinity, so watch the hands! Had the victim in the stabbing been aware of the hands of the attacker, he would not have gotten so close.

As each of us considers whether to be a Good Samaritan and step into encounters that do not directly involve us, we must consider the implications on our lives and families. Does your desire to step in override your duty to your spouse and children and loved ones? Or is it part of your care for your family to protect others wherever you can? We must also all realize that when we come across an incident in progress that it can be VERY difficult to determine who is the aggressor and who is the defender, who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, and that must give us pause as well.

The Tueller Drill is a widely known standard for gun carriers against a knife attack, which states that an attacker can cover 21 feet in 1.5 seconds to get to their target. If the gun carrier doesn’t have their gun out and ready, they will get stabbed trying to get their gun in a fight. This has led to the “21 foot rule”, though it has been revisited by Sgt. Tueller and found to be more of a guide and principle than a rule. At any rate, in a knife attack, recognize that a knife-wielding attacker can be a deadly threat from a significant range, and recognize that they can close that distance very quickly. Get your firearm out and on target as soon as you recognize a threat!

One of the real dangers of knife attacks that we see repeatedly is that if they come from obscurity, the victim may not know that they are being stabbed. Many knife attack victims report feeling like they are being punched and only later realizing that the punch was actually a stab. This is another reason to always watch the hands and be aware, because obviously a stab wound is much more serious than a punch.

There are 3 additional lessons for Patron Members and 3 class starters for Instructors from this video, so please join us in those programs to see them!

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